Squaw Bread Recipe

Squaw bread is the result of a curious hybrid of cultures. Immigrant Germans and Native Americans. The fundamental contribution from the German side was the use of rye flour to make their bread. The Native Americans provided the other needed ingredients including honey, raisins, sea salt and cornmeal. Other ingredients have found their way into the recipe from whole wheat flour to butter. The resulting bread falls in the category of artisanal breads with good texture and a crispy crust.

The Germans used a Dutch oven to bake their bread, but you can make it easily in your bread machine using the wheat bread setting. If you have a dedicated 100% whole wheat setting that may work best for this robust combination of flours because it has additional kneading and rising cycles, but a simple whole wheat setting works as well. One note to keep in mind. This recipe has numerous ingredients including a variety of flours. It’s what gives the bread its unique quality, but you’ll need to have a range of flours on hand.

INGREDIENTS:

1 teaspoon of salt

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

1 cup of water at 110 degrees F. or 45 degrees C.

2 tablespoons of honey

1/4 cup of melted butter

2 tablespoons of raisins

1 cup of rye flour

1 ½ cups of whole wheat flour

1 cup of all-purpose flour

¼ cup of cornmeal

2 ½ teaspoons of yeast

DIRECTIONS:

1

Add the ingredients to the bread pan in the order indicated in the ingredients section. Select the Wheat Bread Setting or the 100% Whole Wheat Bread Setting if you have one. Choose a 1.5-pound loaf as a setting and a dark crust.

2

When done, let the loaf rest on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then slice and serve.

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS:

1 teaspoon of salt

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

1 cup of water at 110 degrees F. or 45 degrees C.

2 tablespoons of honey

1/4 cup of melted butter

2 tablespoons of raisins

1 cup of rye flour

1 ½ cups of whole wheat flour

1 cup of all-purpose flour

¼ cup of cornmeal

2 ½ teaspoons of yeast

Directions

DIRECTIONS:

1

Add the ingredients to the bread pan in the order indicated in the ingredients section. Select the Wheat Bread Setting or the 100% Whole Wheat Bread Setting if you have one. Choose a 1.5-pound loaf as a setting and a dark crust.

2

When done, let the loaf rest on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then slice and serve.

Steve Nubie has been writing professionally for 38 years. He is a Chef and has traveled across Asia and Europe studying language, culture and cuisine. He instructs culinary classes in the Culinary School at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois and has written extensively on cuisine, cooking, diet and nutrition. He is a published author of 10 books including a cookbook and continues to write on subjects related to culinary trends.